General Pricing Information For Pressure Washing Bids For Pressure Washers

Pricing in this industry (pressure washing) starts out at a basic level of around ten cents per square foot of surface being cleaned. The price can go up or down from there based on several factors.

The base price covers work on ordinary surfaces with ordinary soil – all within arm’s reach. As soon as the job gets complicated by height or difficulty or any other factors, the price is affected.

What affects basic pricing? To start, the PITA factor (Pain In The A**). Before you bid any work, you must evaluate the job from a critical standpoint. What can go wrong? What makes this job tougher than a typical job? Are there any factors that will affect your ability to do the job within your normal time frame? Are there factors that will affect your safety?

If there is anything that could affect how fast and smoothly the job will go, you have to factor that into your price. Bumping a bid by $50 or $100 or 20% is a normal part of determining your final bid price. You are the only person who can control whether or not you will make money.

Typical PITA Factors: Landscape issues
Neighboring property and access to all sides of the work
State of repairs
Height
Utilities present / not present
Ladder work or scaffolding or lifts

Do you know everything the job entails? There can be hidden problems, and your job is to find them before you commit to do a job at any price. Ask yourself some questions:

If the work is high in the air, you have to factor the bid amount upwards.

If the work is extra dirty, you have to factor that in too.

If the work is difficult to get to, you have to add to your bid.

If your work requires special tools or cleaners or other expenses, you will have to adjust your bid.

The idea here is that you start with a basic formula and adjust it for your experience and knowledge. The important thing here is to see all of the components of the job and assign costs appropriately. If you are bidding a deck job, for example, it is much harder to work on cleaning the spindles than it is to clean the floor. You ought to charge more to do the spindles than you do for the floor.

There are other factors that can affect your bid price: competition, competence, certification, and more.

If there is no competition, then your price should rise. If there is lots of competition, you will have to differentiate your services or you will be forced to charge what everybody else does. It is obviously in your own interest to do work that others in your area are unwilling to do or don’t know how to do.

If you are very competent and experienced at what you do, then you can justify charging more. If you are inexperienced, then you almost have to give your services away to get a job. It is obviously in your best interest to concentrate on becoming as professional as possible in one or two services needed in your area rather than be a jack-of-all-trades.

If you are certified – recognized by an outside party as an expert – then you can justify charging more than your competitors. It is obviously in your own best interest to pursue all appropriate certifications in your field.

Here are some general pricing suggestions for contractors:

Flatwork; $0.10 - $0.15 per square foot. Price can go down a little if there is in excess of 10,000 sq. ft.

House washing: $1 per running foot of perimeter per story

Decks; $1.25 per sq. ft. for EVERY sq. ft. of area being cleaned (rails, stairs, floor, etc.)